St John Lateran contains several beautiful pieces of sculpture in white marble, rather larger than the usual size of man, of the twelve Apostles, six on one side of the nave and six on the other; and above them are bas-reliefs, also in marble, representing the various scenes from the history of the Old and New Testament. These twelve statues are admirably well executed and they give to this temple an air of simple grandeur. In this church are very few paintings on mosaics, but little gilding and no superfluous ornaments. Sculpture is, in my opinion, far more appropriate to a place of worship than paintings or dazzling ornaments. Another very striking beauty of this noble and venerable temple are the columns it contains some of which are in granite and others of the most beautiful _verd-antique_. There are besides two superb Corinthian columns of bronze which adorn one of the altars. Among the chapels of this Cathedral is one belonging to the Corsini family, which is probably the richest in Europe, and contains more precious stones and marbles than any other. Yet as this and the other chapels are in recesses and separated from the aisles of the church by large bronze gates, you cannot see their contents till you enter the said chapels; and thus your attention is not diverted by them from the contemplation of the simple grandeur of the columns and statues which adorn the body of the temple. The bronze columns above mentioned were taken from the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. On one side in front of the church of St John Lateran stands an immense Egyptian Obelisk 115 feet in height, brought from Egypt to Rome in the time of Constantine.